• Drivers who operate passenger-carrying CMVs must have at least eight consecutive hours off duty and/or in a sleeper berth before getting behind the wheel.
• Having an 8-hour break makes the driver eligible for a full 10 hours of driving within a 15-hour on-duty period.

In general, drivers are required to have eight consecutive hours off work before driving a passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicle (CMV). What the driver does while off-duty is unimportant (any kind of “off-duty” time will satisfy the rules). The driver is not required to sleep, but getting enough rest is critical to both driver safety and the safety of others.

The driver must have NO on-duty time during the eight hours off. This includes any work for a motor carrier and any compensated work for anyone else. The eight hours of rest can be obtained in a passenger seat on a parked CMV, if the driver is relieved of all duties and responsibilities.

If the basic hours-of-service (HOS) limits are violated (such as by driving more than 10 hours or after 15 on-duty hours), the driver may still need only 8 hours of rest to return to driving, unless that’s not enough time to satisfy the 60/70-hour limits.

The definition of driving is all time spent at the controls of a CMV in operation.

The term on-duty time is defined in “What is on-duty and off-duty time?”

Four options

There are four basic ways to get the required eight hours off:

Option 1: Eight consecutive hours “off duty.”

Option 2: Eight consecutive hours in a sleeper berth.

Option 3: Eight consecutive hours using a combination of sleeper-berth and off-duty time.

Option 4: Eight non-consecutive hours off duty using a sleeper berth, obtaining two separate periods in the sleeper berth totaling at least eight hours, with each period being no less than two hours in duration. This is known as the “split sleeper” option.